Pirate Alert...

High pressure nozzles aimed for the priates

Large Shrill noise emitter

Always on the lookout!

Today, we are at sea, traveling through the Straits of Hormus, along the coast of Oman, bound for Salalah. Since we are now in the waters around the Indian Ocean and soon to enter the Gulf of Aden, where sporadic pirate activity has been reported especially along the coast of Somalia, the ship has taken measures to ensure security and safety onboard.

We have noticed an increased presence of security officers stationed on the outer decks, and high pressure hoses set up along the perimeter of the ship. A large sound board which, I am told, emits a high pitched piercing noise in the direction of any approaching unwanted vessels has been placed on the outer deck. The head of security fro Princess cruises has also come onboard to provide additional support. We have also seen military vessels patrolling the sea and had a flyover from a military aircraft.

After our hectic day in Dubai, we slept late, waking at about 10.15am. I got up and noticed that a note had been pushed under our door. It was to let us know that at 10.45 there would be a pirate drill. We rushed to get showered and dressed in time for the drill. Basically, we all had to return to our staterooms, close curtains and stay away from external windows, balconies and doors. The stateroom doors are to be propped open with a wedge so we can get instructions from the stewards positioned in the corridors.

Once again, Captain Mc Bain is very cool, calm and collected - the drill went well and we don’t anticipate any problems - there are much smaller craft which, I think, are more likely to be the subject of an attack than this huge ship - many of the passengers on this ship are already carrying weapons - they could attack with their walking sticks etc!!!

Cheers